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Stock Futures Tilt Lower Ahead of Housing Data

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Stock futures were drifting slightly lower Tuesday after a decline in the German business climate index and as investors awaited a full slate of economic reports, including a gauge on U.S. consumer confidence and housing data. A number of Federal Reserve also were scheduled to make the rounds on Tuesday.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were down 18 points, or 30.26 points below fair value, to 16,822. Futures for the S&P 500 were off 3.75 points, or 4.86 points below fair value, to 1,949.25. Nasdaq futures were down 6 points, or 7.31 points below fair value, to 3,788.5.

Major indices ended mixed on Monday. U.S. stock markets had a quiet beginning to the week, fresh off a multi-day rally to record highs heading into last weekend.

European stock indices were mixed on Tuesday after eurozone markets pared losses triggered by disappointing business climate data from Germany. The data followed a largely positive day in Asia, where indices were buoyed by declining oil prices.

During the past few weeks speculation has increased that the bull market will end soon as the S&P 500 continued to hit successive all-time closing highs. But S&P Capital IQ's managing director of U.S. equity strategy, Sam Stovall, has data that may show otherwise.

He wrote that through June 20, this bull market recorded 67 all-time highs, representing 5% of all trading days. This percentage is slightly more than the average of 4% for cyclical bulls, but substantially less than the average of 9% for secular bulls, and below the average of 7% for all bull markets. This bull market's percentage of all-time highs is tied with the bull of 1970-1973 for sixth place.

"History would suggest, but not guarantee, that this bull market has many more new highs ahead of it before finally running out of steam," Stovall said in a report.

U.S. economic results to be released on Tuesday include the Case-Shiller 20-city Index for April at 9 a.m. EDT, the FHFA Housing Price Index for April at 9 a.m., new home sales for May at 10 a.m. and consumer confidence for June at 10 a.m. The housing market reports arrive on the heels of Monday's widely watched existing home sales report, which showed a rise of 4.9% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million homes. Although the monthly gain was the fastest since August 2011, sales were still 5% below the pace in May 2013.

Philadelphia Fed Bank President Charles Plosser was speaking about the economy and monetary policy in New York in the morning. New York Fed President William Dudley and San Francisco Fed President John Williams are scheduled for public appearances at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., respectively.

Apple suppliers in China will begin mass production of its largest iPhones ever next month, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the plans. Amazon.com reversed a halt on preorders of movie discs from Time Warner's TWX Warner Bros. studio as the two sides near a resolution to a pricing dispute, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Delta CEO Richard Anderson is expected to back the Export-Import Bank providing some support for sales of Boeing's(BA) biggest jets, softening his stance even as the agency's political critics step up a campaign to have it abolished, according to the Journal. Micron said fiscal third-quarter earnings rose to $806 million, or 68 cents a share, from $43 million, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier. Monsanto, the world's largest seed company worth $64 billion, recently explored a $34 billion takeover of Swiss rival Syngenta(SYT) in a transaction that would have allowed the U.S. firm to move its tax location to Switzerland, Bloomberg reported.

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